I Knew You Were My One True Love
by TheWalkingGlee
Summary: AU-ish one shot: Finn reflects on his life with Rachel, from the beginning, all the way up until now.


**So I actually wrote this way back in the beginning of season 4, but I totally forgot about it. I really hope you guys like this. Enjoy!**

**All flashback dialogue is in italics, by the way.**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee**_

* * *

Finn Hudson knew Rachel Berry would be the love of his live since the second he laid eyes on her.

It was Finn's first day of Kindergarten. He watched in awe as Rachel entered the classroom fashionably late. He remembered thinking she was so pretty. In fact, on the second day of school, Finn remembered picking flowers from the school garden and giving them to her, watching her grin as she gladly accepted them.

* * *

Throughout elementary school, Finn and Rachel became great friends. Best friends even, Finn would say. His other friends teased him about it, calling Rachel his girlfriend whenever they were together. Finn denied it, obviously. He was still at the age where girls had cooties. However, he secretly did want Rachel to be his girlfriend. Not that he'd ever tell his friends that, of course.

* * *

Things started to become different in middle school. Finn was going through puberty, and his thoughts on girls changed drastically. Sure, Finn had always thought Rachel was pretty, but it was like he was now really noticing her for the first time. Rachel wasn't just pretty to him anymore. She was beautiful.

* * *

Finn and Rachel exchanged their first kiss when they were thirteen. Finn remembered that day like it was yesterday.

_"Have you ever kissed anyone, Finn?" Rachel blurted out one afternoon. She and Finn were hanging out in his room, listening to some music, which was a passion both of them shared._

_"Um, no," Finn said awkwardly. "Have you?"_

_Rachel shook her head. "No, but I overheard Quinn Fabray talking about her first kiss with Puck."_

_"Oh." Finn nodded._

_"I wonder what it's like," Rachel said dreamily. "You know, to kiss someone."_

_Finn stared back at Rachel, who just simply smiled at him. Rachel didn't know about Finn's massive crush on her. They were best friends, and had been for years. Finn didn't want to do anything to make things awkward between them._

_After a second of silence, Finn finally spoke. "Yeah, me too."_

_"Maybe we should try it or something. To get it over with. So we don't have to wonder about it, you know?" Rachel said, her face flushing a bit._

_"Y-You want me to kiss you?" Finn asked in disbelief._

_"Only if you want to," Rachel said shyly._

_"I-I want to," Finn stuttered. His heart started racing as he moved closer to her._

_Rachel let out a small giggle, indicating she was nervous as well. She closed her eyes and waiting for Finn to take action._

_Finn on the other hand, was practically sweating. He wanted more than anything to kiss her, but he was afraid that it would make things weird between them. Nevertheless, he took a deep breath and went in to kiss her._

_The kiss only lasted a couple seconds. It probably would have lasted longer, if Rachel's cell phone hadn't rang right at that moment._

_"I have to go," Rachel said after she hung up, the flush returning to her cheeks. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."_

_Finn watched from his window as she dashed out of his house. Even though that kiss was so short, he knew in his heart that Rachel was the only girl he ever wanted to kiss._

* * *

High school was where everything changed.

Finn used to be the shortest kid in his class in middle school. However, in his first year of high school, he found himself towering over everyone else. He had also gotten more handsome-or so his mom told him. But Finn had noticed girls stare at him more often.

Quinn Fabray came into the picture in sophomore year. She was the head cheerleader, and Finn had just made the quarterback on the football team.

_"I think we should go out," _Quinn said out of the blue one day, approaching him at his locker.

_"Um, why?" _Finn asked.

_"Well, I'm the head cheerleader, and you're quarterback of the football team. It's kind of obvious that we should be together," _Quinn said.

_"Look, I don't know if I'm all that into you,"_ Finn said truthfully. He still had feelings for Rachel to be honest.

_"Just one date," _Quinn said seductively.

_"Um, sure, I guess." _Finn shrugged. It was just one date after all.

Well one date turned into two dates, which turned into three. Quinn officially called Finn her boyfriend by the fourth date.

Finn actually really liked Quinn. She was pretty, and popular, and really fun. His crush on Rachel began to shrink smaller and smaller.

Ever since Finn starting dating Quinn, he barely saw Rachel anymore. She was a part of a totally different crowd than him. He was popular, probably one of the most popular kids in school. Rachel was on the bottom. She was apart of glee club, which everyone basically thought was social suicide. But Rachel loved it. She made a few friends of her own. Friends that understood her. Tina, Mercedes, and Kurt treated her better than anyone else had. The four of them were losers-they knew that. But they were losers together.

_"I can't believe you and Finn Hudson used to be best friends,"_ Mercedes said one day during lunch.

_"Yeah, me neither,"_ Rachel said as she watched her former best friend passionately kiss the head cheerleader. Rachel couldn't believe the person Finn turned into. They used to joke about the popular kids in middle school.

_"You still have feelings for him, don't you?_" Kurt said, already knowing the answer.

Rachel nodded, feeling embarrassed. While Finn's feelings for her grew smaller and smaller, her feelings for him increased everyday. But Finn would never even notice her now. He already had the perfect girlfriend, perfect friends, and perfect life. There was no way Rachel could compete with that now.

* * *

The news of Quinn's pregnancy rocked the entire school. Finn knew it couldn't have been his baby; they never even had sex. But Quinn somehow managed to convince Finn that it was his.

But Rachel knew the truth. She knew that it wasn't Finn's, it was his best friend Puck's. She had overheard Quinn's conversation with Puck about it earlier.

Rachel wanted more than anything to tell Finn. She couldn't let him believe that the baby was his, when it most certainly wasn't.

_"Finn, I need to tell you something,"_ Rachel said one day. She couldn't keep it in much longer. She had to tell Finn the truth.

* * *

As expected, Finn broke up with Quinn the second he found out. How could he not? She lied to him for months.

_"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner," _Rachel said as she sat down next to Finn shortly after he ended things with Quinn.

_"Don't be."_ Finn put a hand on Rachel's knee._ "I'm kind of glad actually. I can't raise a kid. _I'm_ sorry, though."_

Rachel looked up at him._ "For what?"_

Finn sighed._ "For letting all the popularity get to my head. I should have stayed friends with you."_

Rachel laughed humorlessly._ "Yeah, you should have."_

_"Can we, like, hang out it something? You know, like old times?"_

Rachel nodded._ "I'd like that."_

Finn gave Rachel a smile._ "Cool. I'll um, call you later."_

_"Sounds good." _Rachel returned the smile. She was so glad she finally had her best friend back.

* * *

Finn asked Rachel to be his girlfriend the first week of junior year. He had regained his feelings for her when they started hanging out again.

Rachel happily accepted, and they two of them started dating. At first it was a little weird, because they were always just best friends. This was new to them, especially to Rachel, because she had never had a boyfriend before.

Finn stopped hanging out with his popular friends, and devoted most of his time to his new girlfriend and her friends. Finn actually found that he fit in better with them. He even joined the glee club as well, where he got close to glee club teacher Mr. Schue, who was like a father to him.

Rachel was amazing. Finn couldn't have asked for a better girlfriend. Dating Rachel was so much different than dating Quinn. Quinn would yell at him, criticize him, lowering his confidence. He once told Quinn when they dated that he wanted to be a singer, and she had just laughed in his face.

Rachel believed in Finn. She believed that he was special, that he would make it out of Lima, and for a while he believed her. It wasn't until the end of senior year, when reality really hit him hard.

_"I got in," _Rachel said breathlessly, clutching the acceptance letter to NYADA close to her chest.

Finn couldn't be any prouder of his girl. NYADA was her dream school. As Finn held his envelope that held his future, hopefully one that involved him attending Pace University, he thought of the life he would have with Rachel. Them living together in New York, getting married, and starting a family.

Finn finally opened his envelope, his heart beating fast. He scanned over the first line, and his smile quickly faded.

_"I didn't get in," _he whispered, feeling tears rush to his eyes. This wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to go to New York with Rachel. This couldn't be right.

* * *

_"I'm not going to New York without you," _Rachel cried as Finn held her in his arms.

_"Yes you are," _Finn said, trying to hold it together. He couldn't let Rachel see him cry._ "You're going to be a star, Rachel."_

The two of them sat at the airport, waiting for the plane to come to take Rachel to New York. Finn practically had to drag her there.

_"I need you here, Finn," _Rachel said tearfully as she clutched onto Finn's shoulders as if her life depended on it.

_"You'll be better off without me,"_ Finn whispered._ "I'll just hold you back."_

Rachel just shook her head, not saying a word.

When her flight began to board, Finn stood up and gathered her into his arms. _"You can do this,"_ he said encouragingly.

_"No I can't._" A fresh set of tears gathered into Rachel's eyes.

_"I love you so much," _Finn said, his voice starting to crack. It wouldn't be much longer until he starting crying as well.

_"I love you too," _Rachel whispered. She made no move to unattach herself from him, even when it was her time to board.

Finn grabbed her hand and walked with her as far as he was allowed to go. She held on to his hand as long as possible. When she finally had to pull away, she started crying again, instantly missing the feeling. She gave him one last longing look before turning the corner, heading off to the unknown.

After Rachel left, Finn called his step-brother Kurt to pick him up from the airport. He didn't want to be alone.

* * *

NYADA was definitely something different. There, everyone was just like her. Rachel realized how ironic it was, that in high school, all she wanted to do was fit in, and now in college, all she wanted to do was stand out. It wasn't that she didn't like NYADA, it was just that she missed her old life. She missed her town, she missed her friends, and most of all, she missed Finn.

* * *

Brody Weston kind of just magically appeared out of nowhere. He was a junior at NYADA, and had caught Rachel's attention pretty easily. He was handsome, talented, and seemed like a good guy-all three things Rachel loved. Still, he was no Finn Hudson. No one could ever compete with Finn Hudson.

Brody in no way hid his feelings towards Rachel. He wanted her to be his, and he always found a way to show it.

But Rachel was still heartbroken over Finn. They hadn't necessarily broken up, but Finn hadn't said anything about keeping a long distance relationship either. Rachel wasn't sure what she should do.

* * *

Brody finally talked her into a date a month later, and Rachel had to admit, it was pretty fun. Still, she couldn't help but feel like she was cheating on Finn.

Brody pretty much knew about Finn, but never talked about him with Rachel. Probably because he knew that Finn was the only one for her. Well Brody wanted that to change.

* * *

Finn was the definition of a Lima Loser-or at least _he_ thought he was. After months of working in Kurt's dad Burt's tire shop, he was finally able to attend the University Of Lima. Sure, Finn was glad he was going to college, but he knew this wasn't right for him. He was meant to be in New York. Meant to be with Rachel.

* * *

Mr. Schue let Finn take over the glee club when he chose to be on the Blue Ribbon Panel in Washington. Finn didn't realize how much he loved teaching until he actually experienced it.

Finn was the first person Mr. Schue told about his impending wedding to Ms. Pillsbury. He had already given Finn the honor of being best man the previous year.

_"I'm also inviting Rachel, if that's okay with you,"_ Mr. Schue had said to him a week before the wedding.

_"Why wouldn't it be okay?" _Finn asked, fully knowing why his former teacher would be asking this.

_"Well, you and Rachel haven't exactly been on good terms for a while."_

_"Well I haven't really spoken to her,"_ Finn said._ "Ever since Kurt told me about her new boyfriend."_

Finn really hoped Rachel wouldn't bring Brody to the wedding. He really needed to talk to her alone. They hadn't spoken since the day Rachel left for New York. The day that Finn never wanted to look back on.

_"I promise, everything will be okay,"_ Finn assured Mr. Schue_._ But he wasn't too positive about that.

* * *

Rachel and Kurt stepped off the plane that took them back to their hometown. Truthfully, Rachel was kind of glad she was back. As much as she hated to admit it, Lima was her true home.

_"Finn should be here any minute,"_ Kurt spoke up, causing Rachel's heart to speed up. Finn had offered to pick the two of them up from the airport, much to Rachel's dismay.

_"Finn!"_ Kurt shouted, startling Rachel a bit. She was too lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed him walk up to her.

_"Hey, Rach,"_ Finn said shyly.

_"H-Hi Finn,"_ Rachel squeaked.

Luckily, Kurt was there to distract from the awkwardness.

_"Come on, let's go home."_ Kurt grabbed his suitcase and walked a couple feet ahead of Finn and Rachel.

_"Um, how was your flight?"_ Finn asked as he carried her suitcase for her.

Rachel smiled at the gesture. _"It was fine."_ she shrugged.

_"Look, Rachel."_ Finn abruptly stopped. _"I don't want things to be awkward between us. Can we talk about things?"_

Rachel nodded, knowing that this would come up sooner or later. _"Yeah, we should._"

_"Okay, good."_ Finn let out a content sigh as the two of them made their way to his car.

* * *

Rachel sat in the bridesmaids room of the church all alone, lost in her thoughts. All the other girls had gone off, leaving Rachel there by herself, which was more than fine with her.

She heard a knock on the door and came back to reality.

"_Come in,"_ she said quickly.

_"I thought this would be a good time to talk,_" Finn said as he walked in.

Rachel simply nodded. _"Yeah, I agree."_

_"So, um, how's NYADA?"_

_"It's good. I really fit in there."_

Finn smiled. _"That's great."_

_"What do you really want to talk about, Finn?"_ Rachel asked knowingly. She knew Finn way too well.

_"So why didn't you bring your boyfriend here?"_ Finn sneered, catching Rachel off guard a bit, even though she knew Finn would ask this.

_"Brody and I broke up,"_ Rachel stated, noticing the twinkle in his eyes as she said that.

_"Oh, um, sorry I guess,"_ Finn said lamely. He and Rachel both knew that he wasn't really sorry.

_"It's okay. I, uh, found out that he slept with my dance teacher while we were together."_

Finn's eyes widened. _"What an asshole,"_ he blurted.

_"Finn,"_ Rachel scolded.

_"No, Rach, how could someone treat you like that? I can kick his ass if you want."_

Rachel giggled. _"I wouldn't be too opposed to that idea, actually."_

After a couple seconds of silence, Rachel spoke again.

_"So what about you?"_

_"What about me?"_

_"Are you dating anyone?"_

Finn snorted. _"No."_

_"Why not?"_ Rachel asked.

_"Because there's only one girl for me,"_ Finn said, looking Rachel straight in the eye, causing her to blush. _"You look really beautiful, by the way."_

Rachel gave him a sincere smile. _"Thank you."_ She suddenly checked her phone. _"We should, uh, probably go. The wedding's about to start."_

Finn nodded as he took Rachel's hand in his. _"Let's go."_

* * *

The wedding ceremony was beautiful. Ms. Pillsbury looked stunning, but Rachel couldn't keep her eyes off Finn. Every so often, she'd look away when he caught her staring at him.

Even though it was Ms. Pillsbury who was in the beautiful dress, Finn couldn't help but think that Rachel was the prettiest girl here. She had definitely changed when she was in New York. It looked like she got crazy hair extensions, she wore way more makeup than she used to, and she dressed much differently. But Finn could overlook that. She was still the same girl underneath all that.

_"Wanna dance?"_ Rachel asked, pulling Finn out of his thoughts.

_"Yeah._" Finn grinned and took her hand, walking with her to the dance floor. He put his hands on her waist while she put hers on his shoulders.

_"This is nice,"_ Rachel muttered as they swayed back and forth.

_"Yeah, totally,"_ Finn said. _"I, um, really missed you."_

Rachel looked up at Finn with tears in her eyes. "_I missed you too."_

* * *

When the two of them had enough of dancing, Finn walked with Rachel outside to get some air. Neither of them said a word as they sat outside on the bench. Rachel leaned close to Finn, resting her head on his shoulder. Then she did something that Finn wasn't expecting.

Rachel tilted her head up and kissed him on the lips. Finn was surprised at first, but quickly came to his senses and kissed her back. He poured all his emotions into this kiss. He gripped the back of her head and continued to kiss her passionately, not wanting to ever let go.

Rachel reluctantly pulled away after a little while, resting her forehead against his. _"Come to New York,_" she whispered.

_"I can't,"_ Finn sighed. _"There's nothing for me there."_

_"Yes there is, Finn,"_ Rachel said. _"You have to believe in yourself."_

_"Rachel, I want to go with you to New York so bad. But I'm not good enough there. I didn't get accepted to any colleges."_

_"I don't care,"_ Rachel insisted. _"I need you there."_

Finn wanted more than anything to drop everything and go to New York to be with her. But he wanted to make her proud of him. He wouldn't be able to do that if he didn't go to school or had a job.

_"I can't, Rachel,"_ Finn finally said, watching her face fall. It broke his heart. "_I-I have to go."_ He ran out of the church, feeling more ashamed than he had ever had in his whole life.

Rachel and Kurt went back to New York the next day. Finn didn't even get a chance to say goodbye.

* * *

In March, Finn applied to Pace University again. He knew it was a long shot, but he applied anyway. He also applied to a bunch of other schools around the area, but Pace was his number one priority.

In May, Finn bought a one-way plane ticket to New York. He planned on surprising Rachel. She didn't even know he applied to Pace, let alone got in. He remembered the day he found out he was accepted. It was one of the happiest days in his life.

_"Finn, there's a letter here for you!" Finn's mother, Carol, shouted to him upstairs._

_Finn practically grabbed the envelope from his mom's hands, tearing it opened, getting a few paper cuts in the process. But he didn't care. For the second time in his life, this envelope sealed his fate._

_He carefully took the letter out, noticing how there were more papers this time, which he thought was a good sign._

_Carol watched eagerly as her son scanned over the letter, watching how his broke out into a huge smile._

_"I got in," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "I got into Pace."_

_"Oh, sweetie!" Carol pulled Finn into a bone-crushing hug. "I'm so proud of you," she cried._

_"This is really happening," Finn said, still pretty much in shock. "I'm going to New York."_

Finn made his way up the stairs to Rachel and Kurt's loft, taking deep, steady breaths. The last time he was this nervous was when he was about to kiss Rachel in eighth grade. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

Finn wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans and knocked on the door, holding his breath.

A couple seconds later, the door swung open, revealing Rachel, who stood there in shock.

_"Hi,"_ Finn said nervously. He was so scared that she would just slam the door in his face and never want to see him again.

Rachel's lips turned upwards into a smile. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke.

_"You made it."_

* * *

"Hey, what's going on?" Rachel asks sleepily, adjusting her eyes to the brightness of the room.

"Nothing, I'm just thinking," Finn says, turning to face her.

"About what?"

"About our life. How it came to this."

"You must have been up for a while then," Rachel laughs.

"Yeah, I have," Finn says, nodding his head. "Do you remember what was going through your head when I knocked on your door all those years ago?"

Rachel sits up on the bed, trying to think. "I remember I was surprised at first," she recalls. "But then I was happy. Happy that you finally made it here. Happy that you got into Pace. I knew you could do it."

"I can't believe that was ten years ago," Finn says, shaking his head. "It feels like yesterday." He stares lovingly at his wife of five years, putting a delicate hand on her slightly protruding stomach. "I can't wait to tell this baby about our history together." Finn grins.

"It will be a long and interesting story, I can tell you that," Rachel laughs. "I still can't believe how it all worked out."

"Me neither," Finn says, giving Rachel a quick kiss. "I'm so glad we got our happy ending."


End file.
